


Butterflies and Blood Loss

by Yarniac



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Consort Merlin (Merlin), Established Relationship, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), M/M, Mentions of Blood, Merlin Dies (Merlin), Sad, but nothing graphic, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25696975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yarniac/pseuds/Yarniac
Summary: It seemed like his lungs also wanted to have a nap.You can’t do that,Merlin thought to his lungs,I need you awake.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 215





	Butterflies and Blood Loss

One minute, he was assessing the battle, looking out for his friends and helping out with his magic when needed. The next minute he felt a punch to his gut. He managed not to fall over and he threw the man into a tree. When he looked down though, he was surprised to see a sword sticking out of his abdomen.

All of a sudden the pain hit and he fell. Agony was coursing through his body and he didn’t hear Arthur desperately calling out his name. 

Another one of their attackers looked around wildly for a weapon, seeing as he’d lost his own. He spotted Merlin and ripped the sword from his body, rejoining the fight. Merlin could do nothing but gasp weakly.

Arthur ran to his lover, not caring anymore about the fight going on around him. His knights saw this and covered him. Soon any attackers were either dead or had fled the battle.

Merlin was having trouble with time. Maybe he'd be able to focus more if the world stopped moving around for a second. He looked up to see Arthur kneeling above him. When did he get here? Was he crying? He looked around to see if he could find what was making Arthur sad but found nothing. They had won the fight, why wasn’t Arthur happy?

He looked down and remembered the wound through his stomach. Huh. Shouldn’t he be putting pressure on that? He clumsily tried to put his hand over the wound but it seemed his arms were too tired. Merlin decided he would let them nap.

He focussed back on Arthur and realised he was speaking. 

“-rlin! _Merlin!_ ” The king was shouting. Why does he always shout? He’s such a dollop head. Merlin rolled his eyes.

“Prat,” he said, or tried to say. It seemed like his lungs also wanted to have a nap. _You can’t do that,_ Merlin thought to his lungs, _I need you awake._

Something wet landed on his cheek. Is it raining? _Why do we always have the worst luck?_ Merlin thought, grumpily. But then he realised it was Arthur’s tears.

Even though his vision was going hazy, he decided to try to cheer his husband up before he went to sleep. Were they in bed? Why was he so tired?

He lifted up his arm with effort. _You’ve had enough sleep, arm._ His eyes flashed gold and he uncurled his palm slightly. A small swarm of butterflies fluttered around Arthur. Merlin thought the sight was nice and tried to smile. His smile turned to a small frown when Arthur just started crying harder. _He needs more butterflies._ They always made Merlin happy, and they’d worked cheering Arthur up in the past.

He made some more, and as they fluttered around Arthur’s head, Merlin decided that they would look nice as a butterfly crown. His eyes flashed a blinding gold one more time and the butterflies solidified into a beautifully coloured, crystal crown. He made sure to make it unbreakable, only the best for his Arthur. _Shiny,_ Merlin thought, _shiny like his hair_. 

_I'll take that nap now,_ he thought, closing his eyes.

Well, he _tried_ to take a nap anyway, but someone was insistently shaking him. Had they been doing that the whole time? Merlin cracked his eyes open and pouted. He just made the prat a crown, what more could he want? Why couldn’t he go to sleep? He was awfully tired.

He lifted his arm one last time. Had someone attached weights to it? He was aiming for Arthur’s mouth, to shush him so Merlin could sleep but he missed. He ended up with his tired and heavy hand resting on Arthur’s cheek. Huh, maybe he’d keep it there, it looked right, like it belonged on Arthur’s cheek. But then his hand was betraying him, slipping down to Arthur’s jaw.

He really was tired, _sleepy time,_ he though deliriously and closed his eyes once more. As his hand fell, so did his chest. But it didn’t rise again after that.

Arthur was frozen. He shook his consort desperately, but Merlin's only movement was his head lolling to the side. The only mercy was that his eyes were already closed. If Arthur had seen those beautiful eyes sightless, he didn't know what he would have done.

The knights would never forget the sound that came out of Arthur then. The pure anguish, like a soul being ripped in two.

They didn’t know what to think. They had all just lost a true friend. No one’s eyes were dry, all crying over the man who had saved them countless times before. It was such a shock. With all they’d been through, Merlin had seemed invincible.

* * *

Arthur never wore a normal crown or circlet after that. He honored his husband by wearing the butterflies. Everyone had heard the story of how it was made. Who it was made by. Arthur made sure of that.

As Emrys rebuilds himself, the Once and Future King waits. He would wait as long as it takes because _with all that power you can’t just be gone, damn you! Come back, idiot. Please._

_Please._

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help but leave the ending just a little bit open ;)
> 
> I hope this isn't too bad. I wrote it all in one go and I'm bad at proofreading.  
> Anyway, that's another prompt down from my notebook of ideas I come up with at early hours in the morning.  
> Have a good day/night :)


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